Curriculum! (Part 2)

Our language arts choices have been mostly unchanged from last year.

Writing. Holly continues in Writing Strands. Many of the exercises are easy for her; she needs no instruction at all in her creative writing. WS is written to be used every other week, and she spends much of her free time writing her own stories.



Trevor is again using Spectrum Writing. I bought this book for Holly several years ago out of desperation, a last minute purchase to use something for writing. I was really pleased (more like surprisingly shocked!) with the content, and we've used several other levels since.

Spelling. For several years, Spell to Write and Read was my favorite curriculum. It's only fallen down my list since my kids are older and don't have as much need for its superior phonics instruction. Based on Romalda Spalding's Writing Road to Reading, SWR was written to be taught at home. Holly first learned Spalding in K and 1st grade before we began hsing; the part time school she attended in 2-3rd grade also used Spalding. By that time, I realized how valuable this method was, and I was able to sit in the classroom and watch the teacher's approach for several weeks. This is definitely the last year Holly will have formal spelling; Trevor has a few more years to go.

Latin. For several years, I'd wanted to teach Latin. Each time I'd look at curriculum, I'd become dazed, more convinced that I'd never be able to teach it. Finally, last year, we began v-e-r-y easily with Prima Latina. It's an early elementary introductory Latin program--and it was just the right level for ME. (Both kids surpassed me within the first two months.) I posted about teaching Latin and Prima Latina last spring.

This year, we've moved into Latina Christiana. It was one of my last choices--I don't know why, but I was dead set against it, until a used teacher's book showed up on Chris's book list. I bought it for a couple of dollars and liked what I saw. I also liked that many of the words we'd already learned showed up early on here.



My intention is for Latin to cover grammar concepts this year. Holly and Trevor have both used Shurley for a few years (thanks to Holly's part time school, this was another curriculum we began using at home). Shurley's pretty intense for elementary grammar. Trevor could still work on grammar mechanics, and since I have the Shurley 5 TM already, I bought the corresponding workbook for him to use. We haven't done so yet, but we still have 90% of our school year to go. :)